Meadowlands qualifier notes

East Rutherford, NJ – Live harness racing returned to The Meadowlands this morning with 19 qualifying races, held on a lovely day under clear skies with a considerable homestretch head wind when they began at 9:00am that dissipated as the day wore on, and on. Larry Fox was at the mic to call the action.

With the Breeders Crown eliminations scheduled for next weekend, many among those entered were looking for some work to hone their edge for the championship events.

Twin B Joe Fresh (Roll With Joe) has been a Grizzly all season and there was no letting up today as she smoked around the oval in 1:52, :26.4 home in the Dexter Dunn grips while facing a considerable head wind. She may deserve, as her Thoroughbred Grizzly counterpart Thorpedo Anna got in the Travers Stakes, a shot at the boys before year’s end. A win in the Breeders Crown Mare Open is fifth in line for invitations to the FanDuel Open final. Chris Ryder has done a remarkable job to hold her form since May. Valar Dohaeris and AVF Claire were valiant in defeat behind the winner.

She’s A Shoe In has collected some impressive hardware as late, including an upset win the PASS final for the MacDonald/Schnittker combo and she was given a tightener this morning, following the well-bred Conversano around the oval and finished second to that one. Conversano has shown flashes of brilliance for her connections and the sister to Celebrity Bambino put it together nicely this morning for Scotty Z and trainer Juan Cano with an impressive 1:56 score, home in 28.3 while never asked. Torrisi also went well this morning, closing nicely through the stretch to just miss second for Nancy Takter and Yannick Gingras.

Five accomplished freshman pacing fillies teed it up in race 5 and the combination of trainer Juan Cano and owner Hot Lead Farm struck right back with their homebred Papi Rob Hanover PA Stallion Series winner Gigglingonthebeach who sat just off the lead then closed inside to get the win in 1:54.1 for Andy McCarthy. KY Golden Rod champ Faze did most of the work for Tim Tetrick, pressed to a :56 middle half by KYSS final winner Miki And Minnie, she fought that one off but just got snapped inside late.

Race seven had a juicy field of colt pacers with impressive resumes and Bruce Saunders’ good Cattlewash colt Manolete wore down mile cutter Papi’s Pistol (Andy Miller/Sam DePinto) right at the light to get the 1:52.2 nod for Todd McCarthy. Captain Optimistic had good late pace in a successful prep.

Makes Sense (Papi Rob Hanover) (A. McCarthy/Robert Cleary) and Sugar Man (Tetrick/Brett Pelling) went right to the wire together with the former getting the slight nod in a contentious eighth race. The pair of Papi Rob’s moved on the outside in tandem then squared off, with Makes Sense holding sway narrowly over his rival with both colts driven out in 1:52.3 home in :27.3. Fusion actually had the best foot finishing for Yannick, conservatively raced and sent up the inside in a useful effort.

Oh Well looked great, again, for the Melanders and driver Todd McCarthy. A better looking, better gaited horse you’d struggle to find, while he’s certainly got great style and has won major stakes while collecting $1.5 million, the sense is that there’s even more there. Relatable. He crushed an overmatched group today in 1:55.

Dave Miller sent TCI (first Lasix) out fast for the Burke barn today and kept rolling and he had some of his old snap back, blasting along through even numbers while well in front throughout to win in 1:53.2 home in :28 pretty much on his own. He wasn’t in by himself either as Daquiri Hanover and Supernova Hanover, both stakes winners, were left in his wake.

Voukefalas (Lazarus N) (Jordan Stratton/Mike Russo) sharpened up with a 1:52.4 home in :27.4 largely front running effort and looked like he could use the work having been a month off, should set him up nicely for next week. Seven Colors showed snap that we haven’t seen from him this year, rallying up the inside late to narrow in on the winner for Dunn.

Ruthless Hanover (Somebeachsomewhere) put on one of his speed shows, 1:49 off a half in :56 and, as always, he looked great doing it. Strong right through the wire for Andy Miller with a :26.4 end to the mile, he’s been a really good horse for a very long time for the Cancelliere boys. Oakwood Ardan IR got a little detached behind slower, then paced right up to Ruthless in the stretch with Andy McCarthy keeping him on Miller’s helmet right through the wire in a bravening trip.

Caviart Belle (Captaintreacherous) (Gingras/Takter) has not been at her best recently, but she perked right up today upon her return to The Meadowlands, storming first up to take the lead off the last turn then drawing away from a good group of her peers through a 26 second last quarter for the 1:52 score impressively. Stonecoldtreachery, Tarrific and Hunting Hula all acquitted themselves well in the winner’s wake.

The glamour boys showed up for race 18 and last year’s Breeders Crown winner Gem Quality (Captain Crunch) proved dead game for Gingras to hold his rival, 2-year-old Dan Patch Award winning Little Brown Jug champ Captain Albano off by a nostril in 1:51.3. Both were held off a controlled pace with Gem Quality first up to leader Captain Bazinga and “Albano” tracking that move. They went right to the wire in sub :27, which arrived just in time for Gem to hold safe. Captain Bazinga held up well under the circumstances.

Live racing returns next Friday, October 18 with the eliminations for Breeders Crown stakes.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results.

by Nick Salvi, for The Meadowlands